'A total loss'
A four-alarm fire that broke out Saturday morning in the Sir Speedy building on South Main Street drew about 80 firefighters from 13 departments, according to Butler City Fire Department Chief Chris Switala.
The extra hands and five ladder trucks that responded helped tame the flames during a battle that lasted more than four hours. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.
“As we were attacking the fire, the fire was getting into the void spaces,” Switala said.
Void spaces, he said, are areas where fire can spread due to extra structural space, such as between ceilings and floors.
The initial call came in around 8:15 a.m. for the structure at 229 S. Main St.
“The fire started in Sir Speedy,” Switala said. “We had heavy smoke, but not much visible fire.”
Fire crews had to force in locked doors in the back and front of the building to get inside
Switala said firefighters took an “aggressive” approach to stemming the flames when the fire repeatedly resurfaced during the course of the day.
Though the fire seemed to be concentrated in the rear of the Sir Speedy building, it did result in severe damage to the front of the structure. Holes were cut into the roof for ventilation purposes.
“It was aggressive work,” Switala said.Switala said the roof collapsed in the rear of the Sir Speedy building.Switala said though the Sir Speedy structure appears to be a total loss, neighboring businesses Edward Jones Investments and Reclamation Brewing Company sustained only severe smoke and water damage.Miller's Shoes, 215 S. Main St., sustained minor water damage, authorities said. Switala said other businesses in that area of Main Street are structurally sound.Trooper DuWayne Baird, a state police deputy marshal, who is investigating, estimated the total damage at $750,000.Baird said there were no other tenants above either the three-story Sir Speedy and Reclamation Brewing buildings or the two-story Edward Jones buildings.No one was believed to be in any of the buildings at the time of the fire.Nicole Volk, who lives on the other end of Butler, said her family was worried about people being in the building when they first saw the smoke.“That was our biggest concern,” Volk said. “That there were apartments.”Volk said she and her daughters, Abbygail, 11, and Aubree, 7, smelled the smoke from their home.“It's scary,” Abbygail said.“It stinks,” Aubree said.Volk said her family wanted the fire to be handled safely.“Our hope is just that everyone's OK,” Volk said. “Firefighters, especially.”Ben Smith, the co-owner of Reclamation Brewing as well as Butler's mayor, said Sunday that he was waiting to speak to his insurance carrier.“We got lots of water and smoke damage,” he said. His brew pub was open Friday until 11 p.m., when it closed for the night in keeping with the state's COVID-19 regulations.The business Smith owns with his father, John, has recently been operating at 50% capacity under those same COVID restrictions. He doesn't know when he'll be able to reopen in wake of the fire.“We've told our (12 to 15) employees that they weren't supposed to come to work (Saturday), obviously, and not for the foreseeable future, but I don't know what we're going to do,” Smith said.“We're going to try to work something out with them, but I haven't gotten in touch with my insurance agent.”He conceded the impact of COVID and now the fire, all in less than a year's time, has made it tough on his business.“It hasn't been an easy year,” he said.Smith said he wants to reopen. He also acknowledged that he knows he may have to relocate.“Everything looks pretty messed up to me,” Smith said of the damage to his business. “Everything is just waterlogged, including all the drywall everywhere.”Attempts Sunday to contact the other business owners and the owners of the building were unsuccessful.Breakfast meals and drinks were sent to the scene for first responders, though Switala said he wasn't sure exactly where they came from.The city Public Works Department assisted with ice management.Temperatures were in the low 20s for much of the day, causing concern about icy patches near hoses and hydrants.A city firefighter bruised his knee in a fall, and a firefighter from an assisting department also was bruised when he was bumped by a piece of equipment while battling the blaze. Both minor injuries happened outside the buildings.“It just immediately starts icing up the streets,” Switala said. “We called for Public Works early on.”Fire departments that responded were Butler City, Butler Township, Butler VA, Callery, Slippery Rock, Chicora, East Butler, Adams, Saxonburg, Unionville, Penn Township and Herman.Adams, Butler Township, Chicora, Saxonburg and Slippery Rock supplied ladder trucks, all five of which were used to combat the flames.Butler City doesn't have a ladder truck but should have one by the end of the year.“It's on order,” Switala said.The Marshall Township Volunteer Fire Department sent an air truck to refill self-contained breathing apparatuses.The firefighting efforts won high praise from Baird and Smith.“Those fire departments deserve a lot of credit,” Baird said. “I think they potentially saved the other two (buildings) as far as fire damage.”Smith, too, noted that the damage could have been worse — a lot worse.“For years I've always had a fear that if one of the buildings on Main Street or anywhere in town goes up, that the whole block's going to be gone,” he said.“For that matter, I'm really proud of all the firefighters who came out, and the stop they put on it.”Butler Ambulance Service, Butler police, state police and the Red Cross were also on site, according to Switala.By early afternoon Saturday, firefighters were investigating hot spots and removing any unstable pieces of the structure.Switala said the fire comes on the heels of another recent blaze that hit his department hard. On Dec. 31, city firefighters responded to a house fire on Knox Avenue that claimed the life of a 2-year-old boy.“This has been just a tough month's time in general,” he said, “because we've had two of the worst fire situations that we could have within a month, between the fatal fire involving a child and then having a major fire affecting he business district. Those are the big things we want to prevent.”
